Currently, bromine cartridges are used for water disinfection on shipboard installations. The bromine cartridge system is expensive to operate, has low reliability and maintainability. It has been found to be impractical to so disinfect water under a wide range of conditions without producing a hazardous waste product.
Another system used for shipboard water disinfection is batch chlorination with calcium hypochlorite. The batch chlorination method presents numerous safety hazards since the calcium hypochlorite is corrosive, has a limited shelf life, and can cause injury to personnel or damage to equipment if handled incorrectly. It also presents the potential hazard of causing fires and explosions if it comes in contact with any organic combustible materials.
It would, therefore, be desirable to provide improved effectiveness of disinfection at reduced cost. It would also be desirable to couple this with the elimination of hazardous waste, as well as the elimination of handling and storage of hazardous chemicals.